Six boats, two to ten berths
Every boat is 6 ft 10 in wide, steered from the stern, heated by a solid-fuel stove and by diesel central heating, and priced by the week, the weekend and the midweek.
Filter the boats
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Dabchick
The smallest of the six, and the one a single person can work through a lock without shouting for help. Two people, a double bed that stays made up, and room on the roof for the bikes.
Hire prices for Dabchick Hire Low season High season Week, 7 nights £895 £1,395 Midweek, 4 nights £455 £685 Weekend, 3 nights £395 £585 -
Kingfisher
Four berths in 52 feet, which is the length most first-timers should hire. Short enough to turn in any winding hole on the Oxford, long enough that the twin cabin is not a cupboard.
Hire prices for Kingfisher Hire Low season High season Week, 7 nights £1,195 £1,795 Midweek, 4 nights £595 £865 Weekend, 3 nights £515 £745 -
Moorhen
Two proper double cabins, one at each end, so two couples can both shut a door. The extra five feet over Kingfisher goes into a galley with real worktop. No dogs aboard: the cabin floors are bare wood.
Hire prices for Moorhen Hire Low season High season Week, 7 nights £1,295 £1,945 Midweek, 4 nights £645 £935 Weekend, 3 nights £555 £805 -
Reed Warbler
Sixty feet is the longest hull that fits every winding hole on the northern routes, so Reed Warbler is our family boat: six berths, a second toilet, and a cratch at the front for wet coats.
Hire prices for Reed Warbler Hire Low season High season Week, 7 nights £1,595 £2,395 Midweek, 4 nights £795 £1,145 Weekend, 3 nights £685 £995 -
Grey Heron
Sixty-eight feet, eight people, two shower rooms. She is too long to turn above Twyford Wharf, so she goes south to Oxford and north to Banbury and never further without a conversation with us first.
Hire prices for Grey Heron Hire Low season High season Week, 7 nights £1,995 £2,895 Midweek, 4 nights £985 £1,395 Weekend, 3 nights £850 £1,210 -
Mute Swan
The longest boat the Oxford Canal locks will take: seventy feet, ten berths, and a steerer who has done the handover with us twice. We will not hand her to a crew without an experienced helm.
Hire prices for Mute Swan Hire Low season High season Week, 7 nights £2,395 £3,395 Midweek, 4 nights £1,195 £1,640 Weekend, 3 nights £1,020 £1,430
No boat matches those filters. Clear one and the list comes back.
Every boat has a stove
A solid-fuel stove in the saloon and diesel central heating through the cabins, so a March week is no colder than a September one. The first two bags of coal are in the price; more is sold at the wharf at £11 a bag.
The stove is the reason we hire all year round.
When a week costs more
High season is any hire with a night between 4 Jun 2027 and 2 Sep 2027. Everything else is low season, including the weeks either side, when the towpath is quietest and the light is best.
We take bookings for starts from Fri 5 Mar 2027 to Fri 19 Nov 2027. Weeks and weekend breaks start on a Friday; midweek breaks start on a Monday.
